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Nigeria records mpox cases amid global health emergency

ABUJA, NIGERIA —  Barely 48 hours after the World Health Organization declared mpox a global health emergency, Nigeria went on high alert Friday, announcing new mpox cases and raising concerns about the country’s ability to contain the outbreak. The Nigeria…

DR Congo’s humanitarian crisis helped mpox spiral into a global health emergency

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo —  Sarah Bagheni had a headache, fever, and itchy and unusual skin lesions for days, but she had no inkling that her symptoms might have been caused by mpox and that she might be another…

Europe warned to prepare for mpox as Pakistan reports first case

Stockholm —  Health authorities warned Friday that Europe must be ready for more cases of a deadly strain of mpox that has killed hundreds of people in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The World Health Organization urged pharmaceutical firms to…

Survey shows disaster-prone Southeast Asia is also best prepared

BANGKOK —  Southeast Asia is among the regions most prone to natural disasters, but a new analysis released Thursday shows its people also feel the best equipped to deal with them. It seems logical that the countries in and around…

What is mpox, where are the outbreaks and will the virus spread?

london —  The World Health Organization declared Wednesday that the increasing spread of mpox in Africa is a global health emergency, warning the virus might ultimately spill across international borders. The announcement by WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus came after…

As climate change spurs more wildfires, smoke threatens farmworkers, study says

LOS ANGELES —  As wildfires scorched swaths of land in the wine country of Sonoma County in 2020, sending ash flying and choking the air with smoke, Maria Salinas harvested grapes. Her saliva turned black from inhaling the toxins, until…

COVID-19 cases in US surge; experts suggest keeping vaccinations current

COVID-19 hasn’t gone away, and data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests it’s on the upswing around the country. “We’ve seen these summer increases every summer that COVID-19 has been with us,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, a…

Aid groups in Gaza aim to avert polio outbreak with a surge of vaccinations

CAIRO —  The threat of polio is rising fast in the Gaza Strip, prompting aid groups to call for an urgent pause in the war so they can ramp up vaccinations and head off a full-blown outbreak. One case has…

Nigeria on ‘high alert’ amid surging cases of mpox in Africa

Abuja, Nigeria —  Nigerian authorities on Thursday placed key entry points into the country on high alert following the outbreak of the mpox virus in Africa. Authorities have also put nine Nigerian states, including the commercial hub, Lagos, and the…

US climate agency: Last month hottest July on record

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, recorded the Earth’s hottest July in the agency’s 175-year history — and the 14th consecutive month of record heat. In the agency’s monthly climate report released Thursday, NOAA’s environmental information chief, Karin…